A Sustainable Transportation Vision for New England

Chella Rajan moderates a panel discussion on the important stakes that cities, states, employers, the environment, and the public have in future patterns and costs of transportation. Ideas contributing to a sustainable transportation vision in New England are considered, including new technology, smart land use, mixed-use land development, access to appropriate transport services, thoughtful urban design, and personal behavior.

Sudhir Chella Rajan is a member of the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He has been a Senior Fellow at Tellus Institute where he led the Global Politics and Institutions Program. Rajan has an extensive 20 year research background in transportation, energy systems, and the institutional and political context of environmental policy making.

Mr. Rosenblum has 15 years experience in research, consulting, training & education, public policy, and community advocacy at the intersection of environment, business, and community engagement. For the past two years, he has focused on conducting a needs assessment for the creation of an advocacy group focusing on improving urban life in Boston by improving transportation options beyond the tradition use of the automobile. He is co-founder and Executive Director of the LivableStreets Alliance.

As part of this effort, he launched a Boston-focused bicycle advocacy group, "Boston Bicycle Planning Initiative," in November 2004 in response to an opportunity to bring together a cohesive presentation at a City Council hearing.

He consults part-time with the Cadmus Group in Watertown, MA, conducting training programs and provided consultation for USAID (US Agency for International Development) and UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) on Cleaner Production programs (i.e., pollution prevention), environmentally sound design, and environmental impact assessment (mostly in Africa and Asia Near East).

Steve Russell is the Fleet Superintendent for the City of Keene, New Hampshire. If it rolls in the City of Keene, Steve is responsible for keeping it rolling. The city vehicles of police, fire, rescue, public works, water, wastewater, and the recycling center which are powered by diesel fuel have been using Biodiesel successfully for over seven years.

Under Steve's direction the fleet has been recognized nationally by ICLEI/Local Governments for Sustainability for its extensive use of Biodiesel. As well, in 2004 Keene's Fleet Services Division was the recipient of The State of New Hampshire Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention, recognizing it for its work in Biodiesel and other pollution prevention work.

For the last five years Steve has been sharing his knowledge about Biodiesel, pollution prevention, and alternative fuels with fleet managers, public works directors, national park staff, and transit fleet operators all around the United States. Most recently he spoke at the University of Massachusetts Department of the Interior Clean Energy Conference.

Jacki Wilkins is the new president of the 400-member Boston Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar. Wilkins, a senior project manager for environmental permitting at the Massachusetts Port Authority, begins her two-year term at WTS as the local transportation industry winds down from large-scale construction projects like Logan Airport modernization and the Central Artery Big Dig Project.

Wilkins first joined WTS in 1994 and has served as vice president, treasurer and co-chairwoman of committees responsible for student scholarships and planning the WTS National Conference held in Boston in 2003. W

ilkins graduated with a degree in geology from Pennsylvania's Lafayette College and later did graduate work in environmental studies before serving 11 years with the states Executive Office of Environmental Affairs She also worked as a consultant for 6 years before working at Massport.